People

David Bonter

As the Arthur A. Allen Director of Citizen Science at the Lab of Ornithology and a Senior Lecturer at Cornell University, David is in the fortunate position of engaging the public in research focused on birds and encouraging the development and scientific explorations of a growing cohort of bright undergraduate students.

Eric Hughes

Cornell Class of 2021

Eric studied birds in Peru, Kenya, and Australia in his time as an undergraduate. He worked with Master’s student and lab-mate Rachael Mady for his thesis, which examined the accuracy and biological meaning of radio-frequency identification data recorded by RFID-equipped bird feeders. Interested in environmental management and protection, Eric hopes to pursue a career in government or environmental consulting.

Samantha Hagler

Cornell Class of 2020

Sam’s primary research interest is in behavioral ecology, and she is especially interested in studying social behavior, cooperation, and polygamous mating systems in birds. She is keenly interested in the movement and foraging ecology of raptors. For her senior thesis, Sam studied the breeding biology and diets of Harris’s Hawks in South Texas, with a goal of better understanding the benefits of cooperation in this uniquely social raptor species.

Rachael Mady

MS Student

Rachael is the lab’s first Masters student and is excited to be in a lab with so many bright and inspiring undergraduates! She will be studying the effects of supplemental bird feeding for her thesis as well as working as a research assistant for an NSF-funded project to create a platform for co-created citizen science centered around the Lab of Ornithology’s Bird Cams.

Andrew Schmalfuss

Cornell Class of 2020

Andrew’s academic research and career plan is focused on raptor movement ecology, behavior and conservation. His senior thesis, entitled “Response of Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) and Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) to an unintentionally provided, superabundant prey resource,” studied regional changes in the distribution and abundance of birds near the Ithaca NYSDEC Game Farm and Cornell University compost facility. Andrew has been a licensed falconer for 6 years and is interested in utilizing falconry as a means of sustainable conservation of raptor populations in the Middle East.

Chris Sayers

Cornell Class of 2020

Chris is an avid birder and photographer who, during his undergraduate career, traveled twice to Kenya on Ivy Expeditions collecting wildlife media for Macaulay Library. For his senior thesis, Chris collaborated with the SHARP team to study mercury in sparrows in salt marshes along the East Coast.

Sarah Toner

Cornell Class of 2019

Sarah worked on a diversity of research projects during her undergraduate career, ranging from analyzing patterns of vagrancy in Franklin’s Gulls to studying antipredatory behaviors in Australian Red-backed Fairywrens. For her honors thesis, Sarah studied factors influencing the distribution of Northern Cardinals and Red-bellied Woodpeckers at the northern edge of their range in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Sarah is currently working for the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

James Purcell

Cornell Class of 2018

James studied birds in Australia and South America during his time at Cornell. His senior thesis focused on yellow warblers and their nests (under the direction of Vanya Rowher at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates).

Facundo Fernandez-Duque

Cornell Class of 2018

Facundo studied gulls and swallows on Appledore Island, Maine, fairy-wrens in Australia, and bluebirds and house sparrows in Ithaca during his undergraduate career. He’s a skilled bird bander always looking for an excuse to study birds. His first manuscript on the use of egg oiling to limit reproduction is an invasive passerine was published in Avian Conservation and Ecology.

Sarah Dzielski

Cornell Class of 2017

Sarah has traveled the globe studying birds in Panama, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Australia and already has two scientific publications. For her senior thesis, Sarah worked with Vanya Rowher and Lilly Twinning to study mercury contamination in historic and contemporary bird specimens. Sarah is currently pursuing a graduate degree studying mercury and birds at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Odile Maurelli

Cornell Class of 2017

Odile’s thesis explored potential reasons for differential survival between male and female herring gulls, focusing on spatial segregation during the non-breeding season. This work helped Odile develop skills in the genetics lab.

Max Witynski

Cornell Class of 2017

Max is an experienced birder and bander who studied Yellow Warblers in Wisconsin and Maine as well as lyrebirds in Australia. His senior thesis project used light-level geolocators to study migratory connectivity in Yellow Warblers, and was published in the Journal of Field Ornithology.

Connor Rosenblatt

Cornell Class of 2017

When not running really long distances… Connor’s research focused on how birds of open fields (Snow Buntings, Horned Larks) utilize habitat during the non-breeding season. He’s now pursuing a graduate degree at Ohio State. Connor’s senior thesis was published in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology.

Liam Berigan

Cornell Class of 2017

Liam’s senior thesis examined factors correlated with House Sparrow declines across North America using data from Project FeederWatch and was published in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology. He also worked on a GIS project examining nest site selection in Common Eiders on Appledore Island, Maine. Following Cornell, Liam completed a Master’s degree studying prairie chickens at Kansas State and is pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Maine.

Emily Shertzer

Cornell Class of 2016

Emily studied the relationship between weather and foraging behavior in songbirds in winter. Her work in the Ithaca-based RFID system led to an impressive senior thesis. Emily is currently pursuing a PhD on sagebrush-obligate birds at the University of Wyoming.

Natasha Bartolotta

Cornell Class of 2016

Natasha’s interest in animal behavior led her to study how gulls react to novel stimuli. She’s now off to Uganda to study chimpanzees before searching for a graduate program in primatology.

Taylor Heaton Crisologo

Cornell Class of 2016

Taylor studied parental nest defense behavior and the factors influencing nesting success in Herring Gulls at Shoals Marine Lab. She also worked on Superb Lyrebird displays as well as fairy-wrens in Australia. Taylor’s senior thesis was published in Ethology.

Hunter Reed

Cornell Class of 2016

Hunter’s senior thesis focused on the influence of bird feeders on the distribution of small mammals, and was published in Ecological Applications. He graduated from Cornell Vet School in 2020 and is currently a Veterinary Epidemiologist with the Texas Animal Health Commission.

Michelle Moglia

Cornell Class of 2014

Michelle studied the array of coloration in bird eggs, using the gulls of Appledore Island as a model system. She has two scientific publications (so far!) from her undergraduate career. Spending two summers in the gull colony prepared her well for life on Wall Street, where she is now a financial analyst.

Shailee Shah

Cornell Class of 2014

Shailee’s novel research demonstrated how gulls encode information in their alarm calls–work published in Animal Behaviour. Shailee is now a Ph.D. student at Columbia University conducting research on Superb Starlings in Kenya.

Luke DeFisher

Cornell Class of 2013

Pulled from the kitchen at Shoals Marine Lab, Luke proved to be a keen biologists and inspirational member of the lab. Luke’s thesis work on the effects of invasive ants on gull reproduction was one of two publications from his undergraduate career. Luke is now an expert cider maker at Rootstock Ciderworks.

Sarah MacLean

Cornell Class of 2013

A founding member of the lab group, Sarah won the SUNY Chancellor’s Prize and numerous other awards during her illustrious undergraduate career. She has 3 scientific publications from her undergraduate work and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at UC Berkeley. Check out her website.

Matt Savoca

Cornell Class of 2010

Matt’s research on gull nest site selection and success led to his first publication and sparked an interest in seabird ecology. He’s now working on a Ph.D. at UC Davis studying why seabirds ingest plastic, a major conservation issue. Learn more about Matt’s work.